2011-09-10 - Halt, Villain!
It's late. Most people would already be in bed by now, but not her. No, never her. She sleeps until near dusk, most days, especially when something as 'big' as this is on the books. Not, she reflects, that it's much of a caper. Dressed in a sleek new costume, courtesy of her /last/ B&E, Catwoman crouches on the rooftop across from the new electronics store that's just opened up downtown. Boasting enough surveilance equipment to make the FBI jealous, including bugs, night vision goggles and even old fashioned security cameras, it also sells mundane items such as televisions and blenders. Not that she's in the market for a new blender... Still, the ads, marketing the store as the new End-All-Be-All of your security needs? They've irked her... Susannah is going to be in so much trouble when she gets home. Her mother is likely to ground her, given the egregiously late hour. But a hero cannot walk away from those in need, and a very nasty car accident - the police mentioned 'under the influence' more than once - was something Sam couldn't help wanting to call Man-at-Arms to help with. So he came, and he helped. He tore open vehicles and extracted the wounded and the afraid. He did what he could to help with triage, despite not being able to heal himself. And now, instead of grabbing a train back to Brooklyn, Man-at-Arms is streaking across the sky, riding hard on his mighty white steed, trying to cross from the northwestern Manhattan towards Brooklyn as quickly as possible. It is 'his fault' Sam is going to get home and Sam's mother, who will never refer to Sam as Sam, only Susannah, is going to ground her rebellious, disrespectful, troublesome daughter 'for her own good'. As for Keely, well, her parents are the more forgiving type, especially when she asks in advance if she can go out late and see the newest movie to hit the theatres with friends. She did so and is now on her way home, walking into the area of the electronics shop. Normally, a girl like Keely would be ill advised to walk home alone. However, Keely is rarely alone and isn't exactly helpless. Near her, probably in an alleyway, behind a trashcan, in a box or in some other little hiding spots, tiny people peer and peek with little wings fluttering as they watch Keely head home. For her own safety of course. There's a soft 'PFT!' noise as a grappling device is fired across the street, impacting into the concrete building side. The rope is secured on an outcropping on her side, and Catwoman is suddenly airborn, deftly sliding down the rope at high speed, a mere shadow flitting across the night sky should anyone bother to look up. Balanced on a third story outcropping now, she begins to work the window with carefully placed electronics, slinking away, only to detonate the small bombs, shattering the window and sending bits of glass raining down on the streets below. And then she's inside the building, cheshire grin firmly affixed on her face. Yes, there was very little in the way of skill involved... But not everything needs to be about skill, right? She drops the distance from the window to the floor in a single elegant move, landing in a low crouch inside. And then she's rushing through the aisles, flinging more of those little devices at the online security cameras. An explosion and falling glass is enough of a stand-out to Man-at-Arms' heightened senses that he cannot help but notice, turning to look down below as he wheels the mighty Steed around. Spotting the shattered window, he gallops towards it suddenly, losing altitude as the horse rides on air as if it is a hill of solid ground with a packed-earth road. He does what his teammates have told him to do, tapping the earpiece he wears and letting them know he has spotted something odd and is investigating. Of course, being fellow teens none of them are up and about at this hour either. Just as he shouldn't be. The horse comes to a halt outside the shattered window, and the young knight vaults from the saddle with a noisy clank of metal plates, landing with surprising agility on the window ledge, and then leaping to the floor within. Subtlety, thy name is not Man-at-Arms. An explosion in the distance? A horse galloping out of the...sky...toward...ok. Well, that part isn't quite so normal in the big city. Explosions sometimes happen but horses from the air not so much. Either way, Keely is off running in that direction, shaking her head as she goes, "Why run this way?" She hmms as she goes toward the explosion, flying horse scene. She comes to a halt when she spots the horse floating near the broken window and then she blinks, "Right..." She hmms and looks up and then looks at the door and then up. She scrunches her nose up a bit and then closes her eyes. She then blinks and nods even as she looks over at a nearby grate and water raises up out of the grating. She focuses on it as she steps on to the water and is risen up to the window where she steps off on to the sill and then slips a little, falls forward, and just avoids Man-At-Arms. However, a lot like Catwoman, she lands in a crouch before popping up and blinking, "Uh...hi." She states to Man-At-Arms. Great. The Scooby Gang arrived early. Catwoman doesn't stop in her swift movements, another of those micro-bombs flung with accuracy at the nearest camera... and then they detonate. Ten bombs go off, sending bits of shrapnel flying through the air as the cat burglar turned smash-and-grab leaps over one of the low aisles of electronics, landing atop a display cabinet with another grin. She turns to see exactly WHO is in pursuit, hand on one hip, close to the bullwhip coiled above her left thigh. Man-at-Arms is looking around the room, following the flicking of objects even though he cannot see their source clearly - aisle displays in the way from his position. When the micro-bombs go off, his shield comes up, a shimmering field of energy snapping into place above himself and Keely, shielding them and making them stand out a bit. He offers a smile and a bob of his head for the girl he recognizes from the Park. "Good eve, Lady. T'would seem we hath found more trouble together." Once he sees Catwoman atop the display, he points her out boldly. "Halt thee, villain! Your destructive rampage must stop!" Yeah. He talks like that. All. The. Time. Looking at the explosions, Keely throws her arms up and shakes her head. She blinks as she looks at the shield and then she swallows softly as she realizes that she has once more been saved. Keely blinks then at the words that Man-at-Arms uses. She stares at him a moment and then looks toward the Catwoman. She stares at her carefully before saying, "Umm, yeah. You halt there...you evil person you." She nods and then shakes her head, "Really I'm not good at this." She then looks up and blinks, "oh, excellent." She aims a hand up and there's a shaking sound like metal shaking and then it stops, "Well...that's not so easy to get to." A low groan escapes Catwoman's throat as she eyes Man-At-Arms and his Girl Sidekick, one eyebrow raising ever so slightly. "You... cannot be serious. First of all, my 'rampage' is hardly that destructive. I blew up a window and some cameras, not a bunch of civilians. Second... Thee? Really? Thee?" She shakes her head, turning a somersault off the display and disappearing from view as she crouches. "And I'm hardly evil. I don't even jaywalk!" Breaking and entering, however... The young knight noiseyclanks severely as he takes off at a run towards the sleekly-clad catburglar. He didn't call her evil, but she /is/ being destructive. Property should be protected, though lives are of course tantamount in importance. "Halt, I say!" he calls. Damn, that guy can run, far faster than any man ought to be able in that kind of armor. A blink as her 'protector' takes off in the direction of the dangerous criminal. She meanwhile hurrms as she can't seem to pull the water from the pipes above and looks outside the window. Biting her lip she aims a hand at the water outside which pools up into a ball int he air and then she raises it up slowly to the window and then inside, "Excellent." She states even as M-a-A is after Catwoman. She smiles, "I did it!" she declares right as a yellow little orb of light flies in right beside her and declares, "Good job!" And then the ball of water hits the ground and she groans, "Dammit, now look what you made me do?" THe little yellow fairy frowns, "Sorry!" "And I say 'quit being so loud'! I mean, really, who fights crime in platemail?" Catwoman pokes her head up down another aisle, several away from Man-At-Arms, seemingly intent on making this a Scooby Doo style chase. A video camera, still in box, goes winging at his well armored head as she vaults over yet another set of aisles, leaping from that to one of the full sized, twelve foot high aisles, sending electronics falling around her as she scrambles up, lacking her usual grace. "Can't you go bother some mass murderer?" One of the electronic devices is slipped into the bag at her hip as she moves along, grinning. Man-at-Arms' head is not armored, his blonde close-cropped locks and handsome young bearded face quite visible. But the tossed device clatters off a swiftly-raised shield just the same. "A knight, lady villain! A knight fights crime in proper armor!" cries the loudly clanking young man, as he continues charging after Catwoman. He's fast and surprisingly agile, but he usually isn't leaping the aisles. And he probably misses her pocketing some of the goods in the midst of all of this mess. And with some effort, she is once again holding an orb of water. She then shoos away her fairy cohort and rushes after, by going along the aisles instead of directly following. She watches for the sight of the leather clad Catwoman and as she gets nearer she gestures out and hahs, "Take that!" And what she is taking is what appears to be an orb of water, which, if it hits, will feel like getting hit by professional boxer's right hook. She then tries to pull the orb back toward her hand, grinning, "I think I might be getting the hang of this." "I'm no lady." Catwoman retorts, rushing headlong down the aisle's top shelf, performing a daring leap across a good eight feet of empty space, only to land solidly on the next shelf, boxes falling free as she plows into them... And then Keely's launching a blast of water... And hit, it does! Already off balance, Catwoman goes tumbling to the ground, managing to catch herself at the last second, on all fours. "... That is not EVEN fair." She growls, rising to her feet. "Who here can see in the dark? Just me? Good." A sudden crack announces another of those little button bombs going off, and the aisle she's in is suddenly plunged into darkness as the lighting fixture explodes in a shower of sparks, the sodden feline disappearing in the gloom. "Well, actually, I can." comes the call of the very unstubtle knight as he comes charging into that aisle. He doesn't bother to explain that it isn't as good as he can see in the light, but its's good enough for now. He charges in and a soft blue-white light forms in his hand, resolving into a long metal pole, like a quarterstaff ... made of gleaming steel. And he twirls it gracefully, then whips it across, trying to trip the lady burglar. Well, that makes one who can't see in the dark, at the moment. She hmms as she finds herself holding an orb of water and with no target. That's when the small call of "Charge!" Though it sounds like a munchkin called it out as four orbs of light, a red, yellow, blue and green all come flying in and rush toward the darkness, "Our lady is in trouble! Help her see!" They declare as they attempt to light up the dark with, well, themselves. Keely then rolls her eyes and lets out a sigh even as she attempts to spot something in the less than dark darkness. There she is, goggles seemingly radiating a faint green light as she stealthily tries to climb back up the shelving. Sneaksneaksneak. The staff misses, but only because she does a backward flip in the aisle, slamming into the opposite side in her attempt to avoid attack, sending a pile of boxes falling around her. LCD TVs rain from the sky, knocked off kilter, the thief's arms raised to protect her head. She just wanted some new night vision goggles and to tweak the pride of the idiots advertising the store. Now... she's battered, bruised... and a bit ticked. The large young knight turns, and leaps ... to Catwoman's defense. Seriously. He just leapt up and raised that shield, deflecting the falling televisions and protecting her without thought to either his own safety, or the fact that he /was/ trying to catch her. Catching her does not equate to hurting her, apparently. She's a lady, after all! "Please, Miss. Surrender before you are hurt." Looking over at the 'cavalry' that is coming to her aid, she spots the knight saving the cat. She blinks and then shakes her head even as she coems forward and then points at Catwoman, "You should give yourself up or else...umm...bad stuff will happen to you. Very bad things." And then one of the fairies comes forward, the yellow one, trying to get near to Catwoman to say, "I'll personally destroy your favorite teddy." She nods and makes her best mean face which is equivalent of getting a scowl from Tinker Bell. "Aww, you're sweet. Really." She leans in and plants a kiss on Man-At-Arm's cheek, before diving out of his reach to slide across the floor on her back. "But the only person likely to be hurt are you and Shower Power Princess over there." The slide becomes a back handspring, and she's running again, trusting in speed and agility, as always. On spotting the little... bug-creature in her face, she casually raises one gloved hand, fingers suddenly elongating into three inch long steel, diamond tipped claws. "Cats eat bugs." She points out, her movements taking her toward the windows and the freedom they represent. "Halt thee, Miscreant!" Man-at-Arms declares, as he turns and starts sprinting after Catwoman, steel bar in one hand and shield in the other. He won't catch her, of course. But as she nears those windows, he takes his shot, hurling the bar ahead of himself in a twirling motion to try to catch her broadside and knock her down. He is nothing if not a dichotomy of confusion. He /did/ ask her to surrender before she got hurt. The yellow fairy eeps and backs off. She then points at Catwoman, "She was mean to me!" She declares and flies off to the green one who comforts the poor yellow one. Meanwhile, Keely just attempts to throw the orb of water one more time toward Catwoman, "Don't let her get away!" She yells out. Orb of water, steel bar. Catwoman leaps into the first to avoid the second, sent sprawling into a tumble of arms and legs and long black hair clinging to her face as she pushes herself up into a sitting position. "... Okay. Okay. I surrender." The hairband has fallen free from her head, the ears sodden and drooping anyway. She pushes herself to her feet, hands raised to show surrender. But neither hand is empty, dozens of caltrops and smoke bombs flung into the path of her pursuers. "There are explosives in there, too. I'd avoid stepping on them, if I were you." She smirks, barely visible through the clouds of smoke that spring up... Which swiftly trigger the sprinkler system, but not before the thief has smashed through the nearest window. Smooth as glass, the young knight turns and reaches out, trying to scoop up Keely and keep her from running pell mell into the midst of those caltrops and explosives, his armored boots skidding effectively on those floors. He could summon Steed and try to chase Catwoman. But he will not allow the young lady to come to harm if he can prevent it, even if it means the villain gets away. A blink and then she looks at the ground where all the stuff went and takes several steps back. Evil people do that sorta thing right. Blow up people without remorse? Is it worth it to catch a thief to go over that area? She shakes her head and then looks to Man at Arms, "Are you ok?" The young knight looks down at Keely and nods. "So long as you are unhurt, I am fine." He sounds so earnest when he says it, like it would actually /wound/ him if Keely were hurt. Then again, he just took the time to /save/ the villain he was trying to catch, so he's probably quite serious about it. Despite the humiliation that the burglar escaped. Oh. And the cops are probably coming now. That's a lot of noise they made here. Indeed, outside the building, police are whipping their cars around with screeching rubber and jerking of steering wheels to surround the storefront. Meanwhile, several streets away, Catwoman finds the stash of street clothes she hid earlier, pulling on a hoodie and a pair of jeans over her costume, moving to hide the headband... only to find it gone, which causes more than a little cursing as she walks off into the night, hands tucked into her pockets. The last thing she needs to do is leave evidence lying around!